Do You Think This Child Has an Anxiety Disorder? Why or Why Not?

Jannat Noor

Psych 2220

Anxiety Assignment

Do you think this child has an anxiety disorder? Why or why not? Give supporting evidence for your answer based on the chapter and powerpoint.

I think this child does have an anxiety disorder because she feels experiences nervousness, in response to situations that are potentially dangerous or threatening, like when a burglary is happening or someone is being kidnapped. She is anxious at the thought of harm to herself or others, which is a symptom of anxiety disorder. Physically, her stomach started to feel nervous when she was doing safety drills at school, because of the potentially dangerous thought of someone coming into the school to harm. She also constantly fidgets. Nausea is another symptom of anxiety disorder.

This extreme nervousness interferes with her everyday activities, such as going to sleep away camp. Because she is confronted with nausea in an anxiety-producing situation, she tries to avoid the situation, making it difficult to do everyday things. Avoiding situation is also a symptom of anxiety disorder. The nervousness gets in the way when she is sleeping over at someone's house. However, this nervousness does not seem to interfere with her social and school life. So, from this we can conclude that she does not have social phobia.

Another symptom of anxiety disorder is having trouble sleeping at night. She feels nervous every night from when she is brushing her teeth to when she gets in to bed. She has a nightly ritual to help alleviate that anxiety. She has a pretend world, which she uses to calm her down, by helping to focus on something else and sleep better. She also has a relaxation method-breathing in and out. All of these symptoms lead me to think that the child has an anxiety disorder.